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Vascular Plants of California
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Asarum
WILD-GINGER

Higher Taxonomy
Family: AristolochiaceaeView DescriptionDichotomous Key

Common Name: PIPEVINE FAMILY
Habit: Perennial herb, woody vine, [shrub], rhizomed, aromatic. Stem: branched, occasionally +- underground. Leaf: simple, basal, cauline, or arising from rhizome, alternate; blade generally cordate, entire. Inflorescence: flower generally 1, axillary or terminal. Flower: bisexual, radial or bilateral; sepals 3, free or fused; petals generally 0; stamens generally 6 or 12, free or fused to style; pistil generally 1, ovary +- or partly inferior, chambers generally 6. Fruit: generally capsule. Seed: many.
Genera In Family: 5--8 genera, +- 500 species: mainly tropics, warm temperate; some cultivated (Aristolochia, Asarum, Saruma).
eFlora Treatment Author: Michael R. Mesler & Karen Lu
Scientific Editor: Douglas H. Goldman, Bruce G. Baldwin.
Asarum
Habit: Rhizome shallowly horizontal or deeply +- vertical, plants spreading or clumped; roots gingery-aromatic. Leaf: from rhizome, generally evergreen; blade cordate to reniform. Inflorescence: flower terminal, at ground level. Flower: generally dark colored; sepals forming tube, persistent; stamens 12, free from style, tips generally appendaged. Fruit: fleshy capsule. Seed: with fleshy appendage, ant-dispersed.
Species In Genus: 90 species: northern temperate. Etymology: (Greek: derivation unknown)
Jepson eFlora Author: Michael R. Mesler & Karen Lu
Reference: Kelly 2001 Syst Bot 26:17--53
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)
Key to Asarum

Previous taxon: Aristolochia californica
Next taxon: Asarum caudatum

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Citation for this treatment: Michael R. Mesler & Karen Lu 2012, Asarum, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=8824, accessed on April 24, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 24, 2024.